There are several opinions regarding zoos. Some people believe that zoos should disappear, because animals live in captivity. Other people think that zoos should stay, because of their educational purpose. We were very curious what our followers think. We asked them and they replied:
Yelley Babois indicated that he does not have issues with zoos: ’As long as the animals have enough space and this space resembles their natural habitat, I am okay with it. Elles van der Veer had another opinion and reacted to Yelley’s stand as following: ‘Of course… they should disappear!’ Renee Weijers, who once worked for a zoo, writes: ‘The zoo was not very animal friendly, as the main target was to keep the customer happy, which ultimately hurt the wellbeing of the animals. It was nothing more than an exotic factory farm, as far as I am concerned’.
Mathijs Herremans supports this opinion and paints the following picture: ‘There are zoos that have to get rid of their wolves because they are aging. And people want to see animals in a zoo. However, wolves are naturally very shy. For instance, I went to a sanctuary for wolves in Belgium, but could not see the wolves, because they were hiding, and they would only come out once frozen chickens were thrown in their pen. The couple responsible for the sanctuary told us that they had never touched the wolves. They said to look at the trail of an animal to see if they are stressed. In most zoos wolves cannot hide because we would like to see them. In that case we should not lock these animals up. Elephants, wolves, and polar bears for example should have the possibility to walk for hundreds of miles.’
Karin Couvret replies: ‘As mankind is expanding, destroying the environment and the habitat of animals, I think zoos are crucial in the conservation of certain species. Zoos collaborate with other zoos and perform research. This will only become more important. So much education is needed to make people understand the importance of animals, to end poachers and to create space for animals to live freely. That type of education is given by zoos.’ Marian Claasen opposes this position, because she does not see the educational value of zoos: ‘There is not much education in observing animals that have been taken from their natural habitat. If there are any information sign available there is no one that reads them anyway. Education is merely an excuse to maintain zoos.’ Marloes Duyker has another opinion regarding education: ‘Amazing documentaries have been made that portray animals in their natural habitat, which completely outshine the educational value of zoos. What can you learn from animals that are unable to behave naturally?’
Marian Claasen also pointed at following article: http://thegreenvegans.com/why-you-shouldnt-go-to-the-zoo/